Johnson edges Stewart at finish

Jimmie Johnson already has his eye on the big prize.

The reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup champion passed Tony Stewart three laps from the end Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., and went on to win his second consecutive race in the Kobalt Tools 500.

“We’re thinking championship already,” said Johnson, only four races into the 36-race season. “That’s really the mode anymore. You have to think about points and being in the top 12 all the time.”

Johnson had the car to beat, leading 132 of the first 238 laps. But the only laps he led afterward in the 325-lap event were the last three.

The 25th victory of his Cup career moved Johnson to within 28 points of series leader Mark Martin, who plans to skip this week’s race at Bristol, Tenn., and the following week at Martinsville, Va.

That would leave Johnson only 20 points behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon and 17 behind Jeff Burton going into Bristol, the fifth of the 26 races that will determine the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Matt Kenseth finished third, followed by Jeff Burton and rookie Juan Pablo Montoya.

Kimi Raikkonen, who previously drove for McLaren, made Ferrari a winner in its first race of the post-Michael Schumacher era in edging two-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso in his McLaren debut in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Raikkonen replaced seven-time world champion Schumacher, who retired.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Formula One’s first black driver, finished third. He also became the first rookie to finish in the top three in his debut since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996.

Raikkonen completed the 3.295-mile circuit 7.2 seconds ahead of Alonso.

Teammates Tony Schumacher and Ron Capps won the top two divisions in the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, giving team owner Don Schumacher a sweep at historic Gainesville Raceway in Florida.

Tony Schumacher’s victory over Larry Dixon also moved him ahead of “Big Daddy” Don Garlits for fourth place on the top fuel victory list with 36. Schumacher ran 4.542 seconds at 325.14 mph to Dixon’s 4.582 at 321.65 mph.

Capps ran 4.773 seconds at 323.27 mph to beat Phil Burkart Jr., who ran 4.876 at 316.75 mph.

WINTER SPORTS

Svindal, Hosp win overall World Cup titles

After a five-month season, it all came down to seven-hundredths of a second -- the margin by which Aksel Lund Svindal won the World Cup overall title at Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Needing a finish of 15th or better to ensure victory over Benjamin Raich, Svindal finished 15th in the slalom in the final World Cup event of the season. Raich won the race, but finished 13 points behind Svindal in the overall standings.

The women’s overall title went to Nicole Hosp, who won a giant slalom to hold off Austrian teammate Marlies Schild. Julia Mancuso was 11th to finish third overall -- the best showing by an American woman since Tamara McKinney was third in 1984.

Ted Ligety was 14th, and teammate Bode Miller didn’t finish his first run. Miller was fourth in the overall standings.

Raich won the slalom in 1:39.78. Hosp won in 2:11.98.

ARENA FOOTBALL

Defending champion Rush defeats Dragons

Bobby Sippio caught five touchdown passes, and the ArenaBowl champion Chicago Rush (2-1) scored 34 straight points in the second half in their 61-40 victory over the New York Dragons (0-2) at Rosemont, Ill.

Former Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker threw five touchdown passes and Dan Alexander ran for five scores to help the Nashville Kats (1-2) beat the Utah Blaze (2-1), 69-55, atNashville.... Andy Kelly threw four touchdown passes -- three to Tyronne Jones -- to lead the visiting New Orleans VooDoo (2-1) to a 59-31 victory over the Las Vegas Gladiators (1-2).

CRICKET

Pakistan coach dies during World Cup

Pakistan Coach Bob Woolmer died at the World Cup in Kingston, Jamaica, a day after his team suffered one of the biggest upsets in cricket history. He was 58.

Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room and taken to a hospital, but he never regained consciousness. No cause was given.

Ireland, playing in its first World Cup, beat Pakistan by three wickets Saturday.

Andrew Flintoff was dropped for England’s World Cup match against Canada and stripped of the vice captaincy after reports of a drunken night out in Gros Islet, St. Lucia.

Flintoff reportedly was out drinking until the early hours Saturday after a loss to New Zealand, and British media reported he had to be rescued from the ocean at 4 a.m. by hotel staffers.

England beat Canada by 51 runs, and Australia defeated the Netherlands by 229 runs.

PASSINGS

Miami Dolphins longtime fan Sym, 72

Denny “Dolfan Denny” Sym, who cheered on the Miami Dolphins for 34 years as a one-man sideline show, died of kidney disease and cancer Friday in Davie, Fla. He was 72.